In the field of athletic sports involving the use of various balls of various shapes, it has been the practice to employ a variety of ball holding, ball positioning, and ball tethering devices for the purpose of teaching proper kicking skills and also allowing an athlete to effectively perform repeated kick type physical maneuvers with respect to the ball for training. When the ball of concern is, for instance, a football "kicking tees" are utilized. When a ball of concern is a round ball, for example a soccer ball, the related art has devised ball tethering, holding, and position devices as may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,865,330 and 4,720,095 and 4,307,888 and 4,711,043.
None of the afore-referenced devices are, however, specifically directed to the concept of providing a soccer kick training device which is designed to make a player assume, simultaneously during the use of the training device, (1) the proper support foot position relative to the ball, (2) the proper thigh/calf leg kick stroke, (3) the proper contact of the instep of the foot to the ball, and (4) the repetitive consistency of such positions during the repeated kick training process. Soccer coaches have long recognized the value of the early learning of one of the main elements of the game of soccer: a proper, powerful, and accurate instep kick. Coaches, especially those of very young players, have struggled with players to initially teach them and then have them retain the proper support foot position next to the ball, the leg and calf kick stroke, and the kicking foot pointed toe position to allow the instep to contact the ball. Teaching such proper kicking technique is hampered by lack of novice player balance skills when standing on the support foot, often painful toe stubbing experiences when the novice player attempts to properly kick the ball with the instep and misjudges the ground clearance and stub his or her toes into the turf. The latter toe stubbing experiences may totally prevent a novice player's willingness to be taught or learn the important instep kick for fear of repeating the painful incident, Failure to learn the important instep kick often relegates young players to never develop the power and accuracy that would carry them on to a more rewarding playing career. The aforementioned problems with soccer kick training are even more exacerbated when coaches attempt to train players to kick properly with their non-dominant foot which, in the game of soccer, is necessary to fully enjoy and compete with higher skilled teams and players. Coaches and players may also face the problem of availability of time and space to practice such proper kicking methods.
The current invention seeks to simultaneously address the problems of support foot placement next to the ball, leg/calf kick stroke, proper instep of the foot and ball contact, avoidance of toe stubbing, dominant, non-dominant foot training and consistent, rapid and convenient learning. The current invention accomplishes these objectives (1) with a support foot pad to allow the player with only the proper placement position for the support foot relative to the ball and which also requires the player to assume the proper one foot balance position, and (2) by the resistance and limited stroke of the shock mechanism which forces the player to practice the proper thigh/calf "punch" kick, and (3) avoid toe stubbing by elevating the ball above the plane defined by the horizontal surface of the support foot pad. Once the player has trained on the invention and gained the knowledge, confidence, coordination, and feel of the proper kicking style the player will be better prepared to continue his training and practice on the field utilizing the proper kicking techniques.
A further object of the invention is to allow skilled players to develop kicking strength and stamina and to practice in restricted areas, indoors, and during inclement weather.